One of India's most polarising politicians and leader of an influential right-wing Hindu nationalist party has died aged 86.

Bal Thackeray, the founder of the hardline Shiv Sena party, died at his home on Saturday.

His grip over Mumbai often resembled that of a mob boss, but he was considered to be a hero of the city's Hindu working class.

He staunchly campaigned against immigrants arriving from outside Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital.

He accused immigrants of taking jobs away from residents of Mumbai, endearing him to large numbers of young working class men.

Bal Thackeray often referred to Indian Muslims as "anti-nationals" and called for Hindu suicide squads to counter what he saw as a rise in Islamic terrorism.

He was also fiercely critical of Pakistan, decrying efforts by New Delhi to reach out to its nuclear-armed rival.

He has been accused of inciting anti-Muslim riots in Mumbai in the 1990s that claimed over a thousand lives.

He also championed the cause of the Marathi-speaking people of Maharashtra against Indians from other parts of the country who came to work there.

Dr Amitendu Palit, visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia that without its leader his party has little future.

"Honestly, I don't really the Shiv Sena has much of a future, because the Shiv Sena by itself, without Bal Thackeray leading means nothing much and there's already considerable amounts of infighting going on between his successors," he said.